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02/28/2008 02:30:33 PM · #1 |
I've heard a lot of the positives about stock photography. Researched a lot of the whole Macro vs. Micro stock debate. It all sounds very positive, and gives me the impression of why not do stock photography to earn a little on the side?
What I'm wondering is what is the catch? What are you as a photographer giving up with your images by doing stock photography? If you do well, are your images then "saturated" in the market and would have a hard time selling to galleries/shops, etc?
Any thoughts about the negatives of stock photography?
Message edited by author 2008-02-28 14:31:10. |
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02/28/2008 02:43:07 PM · #2 |
"The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ, Moves on; nor all your Piety nor Wit Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line, ..."
----- The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
Updated to "The moving finger clicks the shutter button and your hard disk fills up...."
You can put your images on DPC by way of learning the craft and allow people to use them any which way they might. People vote on them and you feel good receiving their votes. Or you can put your photos up on a reasonable stock site and enjoy people voting on your photos by getting paid for each download. As you sleep or take a vacation, those photos that are pure stock are earning you money. Photos which you take that are exceptional are saved for a rights managed sale somewhere else. The majority of photos taken, IMO, are pure learning or pure stock. Some have stock potential and some do not, of course.
If you decide which photos should be rights managed and which ones should be sold royalty free on a stock site, you can enjoy minor or major income. You also get to learn what sells and what is commercially useful. I like playing in both the world of commercial media and the arty world too. Playing pretty precious with ones photos leads nowhere.
Plant a seed in the world of stock and see how it grows. You can always terminate the experiment. I am not familiar with all stock sites but have used Shutterstock and iStock. I prefer the latter.
ETA - I like the consistent quality in your portfolio. If that is only what you shoot, you would have to try out some for stock. You would be surprised what sells. It is not only the white isolations, pure pristine images and flouncy pouting girls photos that sell. Certain stock sells better in some places than others. If you try stock, have an open mind and treat it as an experiment and find out what sells. Usually, if it is going to sell you will get downloads immediately.
Message edited by author 2008-02-28 14:47:20. |
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02/28/2008 03:53:32 PM · #3 |
| Thanks pineapple, those are some good thoughts! |
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02/28/2008 04:23:54 PM · #4 |
Stock is definetly worth the trip, but if there was a negative for me it would be that it kind of consumes me. I find myself getting so into the downloads and earnings that I don't just go out and take pictures for fun as much. I have to force myself to take pictures that aren't stock oriented. This being said, I would never go back, I love stock photography (the challenge and the earnings).
Happy Downloads!
How to
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02/28/2008 04:27:45 PM · #5 |
| keywording is a pain in the neck, but a necessary evil. :) |
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02/28/2008 05:47:49 PM · #6 |
Karmat's point about keywording is crucial, actually. In fact, before shooting for stock, think of the keywords. The keywords are the "key" to marketing your work. More often than not, it is best to have a good idea of keywords that lead to sales before shooting. But then again, if you are mining your hard disk and the photos already taken, you will learn about keywords as you go on. IMO, keywords are critical, but not too terrible.
IMO, there is only one downside to royalty free photography. If you have a one in a thousand image that is hot and which has potential to sell in a rights managed way for thousands of dollars, once it is released as royalty free it is next to impossible to get it back. It is a small risk though. Selling stock is like learning and getting paid for doing so. My take anyway. |
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02/28/2008 06:03:00 PM · #7 |
Originally posted by pineapple:
Karmat's point about keywording is crucial, actually. In fact, before shooting for stock, think of the keywords. The keywords are the "key" to marketing your work. More often than not, it is best to have a good idea of keywords that lead to sales before shooting. |
This, for me, was what I hated about shooting for stock. Suddenly I'm not taking pictures I wanted to take, just pictures that I thought would sell. They did sell too, but I wasn't taking pictures I wanted to take.
Suddenly it became a painful chore to pick up my camera.
That to me is the negatives of stock photography, if you want to take it in any way seriously - it becomes like a job.
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02/28/2008 06:08:22 PM · #8 |
Is there a way to balance shooting for stock and shooting for "fun," assuming, of course, that you don't always like to shoot for stock.
Maybe I'm just simple-minded, or not really ambitious, but there are times when setting up a stock shoot and doing it is exactly what I like. . .. |
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02/28/2008 07:07:23 PM · #9 |
Good points. Thank you.
I am probably not going to take stock photography THAT seriously. I mean, I probably wont change what I like to take pictures of just so I do better at stock photography. I already have a good paying job and I do photography as a hobby. But making a few extra bucks couldn't hurt. :)
Can anyone familar with what sells well as stock photography take a look at my website and see if there are potential stock images there?
www.flamesoflife.com
Thanks! |
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02/28/2008 07:09:00 PM · #10 |
shooting for stock IS shooting for fun.
It is a different approach i guess, but it is pretty interesting trying to take a good shot and trying to take something that will sell and be popular. Sort of like taking pictures for DPC challenges. You have to take pictures for a specific purpose and that will sell to a specific audience if you want to do well. You can still have your own slant on the challenge but it still has to appeal to it's market.
the difference however, on dpchallenge you are rewarded with ribbons for your top images, in stock you are rewarded with $$$ :)
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02/28/2008 07:18:33 PM · #11 |
Originally posted by Agaeris:
Good points. Thank you.
I am probably not going to take stock photography THAT seriously. I mean, I probably wont change what I like to take pictures of just so I do better at stock photography. I already have a good paying job and I do photography as a hobby. But making a few extra bucks couldn't hurt. :)
Can anyone familar with what sells well as stock photography take a look at my website and see if there are potential stock images there?
www.flamesoflife.com
Thanks! |
You've got a lot of good landscape shots. Problem is, so does everyone else. What seems to sell well are the things that need to change often - images with contemporary cultural clues in them - cell phones go out of fashion in about six months, so new images are needed all the time. Clothes change, so pictures of people wearing clothes need to be updated all the time.
Landscapes don't change much, so you are fighting 20-30 years worth of digital and slide landscape images.
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02/28/2008 07:25:09 PM · #12 |
Nice website and good work on the pictures. Very clean and easy to view.
I know nothing about stock but an image in your portfolio that would sell IMO is the footprint in the mud. |
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02/28/2008 07:37:32 PM · #13 |
If it'll encourage you at all...
I took a bazillion pix of strange/unusual items at fleamarkets etc with my lil ol' Powershot. At home prettied up pic in PS, removed BG and replaced with plain backdrop...and so far on one microsite I have sold, 4x over, the same bewildering image! Don't ask me why, lol, I just know it's my little money maker...all $4 of it...:-) |
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